STERLING Products Limited continues to reward employees’ children who were successful at the National Grade Six Assessment, and this year the company gave each awardee a bursary of $70,000—an increase from the previous bursary sum.

On Friday, October 23, six students received their bursary awards at a simple handing-over ceremony in the company’s boardroom, under strict COVID-19 precautions.
In a brief address to the recipients, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sterling Products Limited, Ramsay Ali, congratulated the students, reminding them that they are about to step up to a higher level of learning.

“We always try to support you,” he told them, adding, “You have done well, but you have to continue to study, you have to continue to do well. You have to continue to invest in yourself.” He pledged the company’s continued assistance, telling the awardees, “If you go on to further your education, we also try to assist your parents.”

The bursary award is a decades-old tradition of Sterling Products and, according to Ali, the company is also examining ways to assist the students further in these times of virtual learning.
“With COVID, we did look at the possibility of assisting them with the technology to attend school virtually and we are looking at that right now. But we still think the cash is important because some of them might have had equipment already; the cash is important for them to get going,” the CEO said.

He further shared, “There are other parents who come to us as their children go along in their education life at high school and at university level. We do support them financially by way of soft loans.”

In the keynote address, General President of the Clerical and Commercial Workers’ Union (CCWU), Sherwood Clarke, commended the students for being successful in their exams despite changes to their schooling because of the pandemic.

“I know it wasn’t an easy task adjusting to the new norms of the coronavirus or COVID-19 Pandemic, and achieving such success as you have achieved. The pandemic has woken us all up to the reality that the old ways of doing things just won’t work anymore.
“We now have to adapt to the new ways of learning, working and socialising. I must beseech you, therefore, that success doesn’t stop here. You have a long way ahead of you,” he said.
On behalf of the awardees and their parents, Shahema Deen lauded the company’s initiative, saying, “It’s a good venture, especially in this time when learning would have transformed to a more virtual setting.

“Having a grant or support would help them to be more efficient. Maybe a lot of people would need computers and this would help… for an organisation to help them, it is commendable.”